Personal Information Protection Act - British Columbia

The Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) is British Columbia’s privacy legislation designed to govern the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information by private sector organizations. It aims to protect individuals' privacy while allowing businesses to manage personal information responsibly.

PIPA applies to:

• Private Sector Organizations: This includes businesses, non-profits, and associations operating in British Columbia that collect, use, or disclose personal information.
• Individuals: In their capacity as employees or representatives of these organizations.

(Note: PIPA does not apply to public bodies, which are governed by other regulations.)

PIPA Guidelines 

• Organizations must obtain explicit consent from individuals before collecting, using, or disclosing their personal information. Consent must be informed, meaning individuals should understand what their information will be used for.
• Personal information must be collected for specific, legitimate purposes. Organizations must limit their use and disclosure of this information to those purposes unless further consent is obtained.

• Individuals have the right to access their personal information held by organizations and request corrections if the information is inaccurate or incomplete.

• Organizations are required to implement reasonable security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure.
• Personal information should not be kept longer than necessary for its intended purpose and must be securely disposed of when no longer needed.
• Organizations must have policies and practices in place to comply with PIPA and be able to demonstrate their compliance. They must also appoint an individual responsible for ensuring adherence to privacy practices.
• If personal information is transferred outside of British Columbia, organizations must ensure that the recipient provides similar levels of protection as required under PIPA.

How Finite State Helps You Comply with PIPA-BC

Finite State can complement your data protection efforts by strengthening your data security capabilities, particularly by: 

• Enforcing Secure Coding Practices: Seamless integrations into existing CI/CD pipelines automatically analyze source code and compiled binaries for common security vulnerabilities and coding errors. This allows engineers to identify vulnerabilities hidden deep within legacy code and third-party libraries and detect and address issues early in the development process.
• Real-Time Threat Detection: Integrations with vulnerability databases provide up-to-date information on the latest threats and exploits, allowing for the proactive identification of potential risks before they can be exploited.
• Automate Vulnerability Identification: Using our advanced binary and source code SCA, vulnerabilities can be identified as they’re introduced across the SDLC to help teams keep applications secure.
• Comprehensive SBOM Solutions: Automatically generate Software Bill of Materials throughout the SDLC and easily compile detailed information on all components in your products, including open-source libraries, third-party dependencies, and custom code to improve transparency and identify potential security risks in your software supply chain.

Strong cybersecurity requires a collective effort. Talk to the team today to discover how Finite State can help you comply with PIPA.